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Five years ago, the owner of a taxicab company might have had
little idea that a new business model was about to shake the very
foundation of his or her enterprise. In theory, taxi operations
seemed immune to the digital disruption sweeping other sectors of
the economy. One might forgive a taxicab company owner for
thinking in 2009 that no social media platform or mobile app
could possibly compete with a driver and a car roaming the city.

But, of course, he or she would have been wildly wrong. When Uber
cropped up and connected drivers with ride-seekers, digital
platforms had unlocked a powerful sharing economy that changed
the way consumers viewed taxis, hotel bookings, hiring practices
and even dog sitting.

Marketers today
are the taxicab companies of 2009. This field is so hands-on,
creative and content intensive, many marketers don't comprehend
that a digital disruption could come along and turn it all on its
head. But the same sharing economy that transformed the way
people see taxis is now upending marketing.

The smartphone-powered creative department. Just
like Uber empowered anyone with a car to become a taxicab driver,
user-generated content platforms are allowing any consumer with a
smartphone or internet connection to become the creative
department in a new marketing model.

The taxicab companies of marketing will continue to invest large
amounts of money into professional photography, creative agency
fees, videography and traditional advertising. But they will find
themselves competing directly with the Ubers, the companies that
crowdsource their marketing material from millions of empowered
customers.

Companies that do not evolve to take advantage of the millions of
smartphone-carrying consumers intent on interacting with brands
will find themselves saddled much with the costs of
infrastructure (akin to owning taxicabs, employing drivers and
running dispatch centers in a world where a simple digital app
directly connects ride-seekers and drivers). They will find
themselves spending large amounts of time and money working with
professional photographers, videographers, copywriters and
creative directors, while more nimble brands launch
consumer-marketing efforts that in a matter of days collect and
showcase thousands of authentic photographs, videos and
testimonials.

Social-media sourcing. This is not to say that
advertising departments will disappear or the role of
professional marketers will evaporate. Marketers will continue to
play s central role in how brands connect with consumers. But
they will work more directly with consumers as they launch,
manage and curate marketing campaigns that represent an
increasingly unfiltered interaction with their customers.

Much of this unfiltered interaction is occurring via social
media. But tapping photos, video and copy submitted through
social media channels is a now versatile tool used for every
facet of corporate marketing efforts. Indeed social media
provides the content for email newsletters, marketing collateral,
websites, in-store displays and television advertising.

Rapidly advancing technology puts user-generated
content collection and management within the reach of almost
all marketing departments. And an increasingly affordable suite
of social-media management, analytics and A/B testing
solutions allow brands to track, analyze and refine these
efforts.

Millennial word-of-mouth. Taxicabs will continue
to roam city streets, and marketing departments will still spend
big budgets on ad creative work. But the 86 million members of
the millennial generation will determine a new marketing
direction fueled by the explosion of social- and mobile-powered
commerce. Millennials account for $1.3 trillion consumer in
spending, according to Barrons, and that number is
expected to steadily grow.

Today, millennials’ spending is already largely dictated by
consumer content. According to
eMarketer, 68 percent of 18- to 34-year-old social media
users were at least somewhat likely to make a purchase after
seeing a friend's social media post.

Millennials will soon not even think of hailing a cab when
seeking cross town. They will turn to their Uber or Lyft
smartphone app out of habit and convenience. In the same way, the
largest generation of consumers in U.S. history will soon not be
swayed by prepackaged advertising directed by creative agencies.
Instead they will seek out the photos, reviews and videos that
show the consumer choices of their network of friends,
acquaintances and fellow millennials.